William j



R0 MODEL.

No. 751,269. "PATBNTED FEB. 2, 1 04.

' W. J. BIPR;

CLEANER FOR BRICK 0R TILE GUTTINGMAGHINBS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8.1903.

Patented February 2, 1904.

WILLIAM J. EIPP, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

CLEANER FOR BRICK on YTIIE CUTTING MACHINES.

, SPECIFICATION To all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. EIPP, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Cleaners for Brick or Tile Cutting Machines, of whichthe following, taken in connectionwith the accompany ing drawings, is afull, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for cutting brick andtile while in plastic state, and refers more particularly to a devicefor cleaning the wires of a rotary cutting-reel-such, for instance, asthat shown. and described. in Patent N o. 67 5,825, June 4, I

In this machine a ro- 1901, to E. M. Freese. tary frame is provided witha plurality of rows of wire cutters whichare radially disposed andoperate to cut through the slab or body of the plastic clay, the cuttersof each gang operating successively to sever the bricks from thecontinuously -,moving slab. Although these wires are well-adapted tocleanse themselves under some conditions, it is found that when the clayis moist or of a peculiarly cohesive nature small quantities of the clayadhere to the wires after each cutting operation, so that when the samewires are again brought into action the edges of the brick are more orless torn or broken, thus leaving ragged or rough corners upon thebricks at each cut. My object, therefore, is .to obviate this diflicultyby, providing a simple and practi cal device for removing the adheringmaterial from the wires immediately after each 'cutting operation, and Ihave only sought to adapt this device to rotary cutters H such as sshown in the patent above referred to.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a brickand tile cutting machine, showing particularly the rotary cutting-reeland my improved cleaner for the cutters as operatively mounted upon themachine. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in both views.1

In order to clearly demonstrate the practicability of my invention, Ihave shown a portion of the brick-cutting machine set forth forming partof Letters Patent No. 751,269, dated. February 2, 1904. Applicationfiled June 8,1903. Serial No. 160,585 (No model.)

in the patent above referred to and consisting of a rotary-frame orcutting-reel, which comprlses two opposite-gears or rings 1, sa1d gearsbeingrotatable in the fixed casings 2 and are connected by lengthwisebars 3.

These gears 1 are angular in cross-section for forming an annularbearing-face 4, which rides upon suitable roller-bearings 5 to maintainthegear in operative position and to reduce the friction as muchaspossible, said gears being dr'iven'in the direction indicated by arrow mby a'suitable power-transmitting mechanism, as gears 6, which may beconnected to any source of power, not necessary to herein illustrate ordescribe.

The lengthwise bars 3 are arranged concentrically around the axis ofrevolution of the gears 1 parallel with said axis and equidistant onefrom the other, and in this instance I have shown three such bars,- uponwhich are mounted a series of wire clamps or holders 7 w for receivingand securing the outer ends of a corresponding number of wire cutters.8. These cutters are arranged in gangs or rows, one gang or row foreach bar 3, and the inner ends of the cutters or wires 8 are secured'torings 9. These rings 9 correspond in number to the number of wires ofeach row and are mounted separately one from the other upon fixed'lengthwise bars 10, which secure the intermediate portions of the fixedframesections 2 to each other, said rings being arranged to rotate withthe gears 1 and bars 3,-

so that the wire cutters. 8 are drawn tightly in radial lines betweenthe rings 9 and bars 3, the space between the rings 9 and bars 8 beingsuflicient to permit the insertion and longitudinal movement of a slab,as 11, of plastic clay as it comes from themolding apparatus. (Notshown.)

I have thus far briefly; described the rotary frame and wirecutters,which constitute what may be termed the cutting-reel, and I willnow proceed to describe the means for cleaning the cutting-wires, Thiscleaning device consists of an oscillatory or rocking frame 14,

ranged parallel with the axis of the cuttingreel and extendstransversely across and in the path of the, wires 8, as seen in Fig 2.

carrying a-brush or scraper 15, which is ar- This swing-frame 1 1comprises a pair of arms 16, arranged in close proximity to the innerfaces of the gears 1 and having their upper ends pivoted at 17 toportions of the fixed frame or casing 2 at a point slightly at one sideof the vertical plane of the axis of the cutting-reel, while the lowerends of said arms 16 are connected by lengthwise clamping-bars 18,between which the brush 15 is impinged and held in position byclamping-bolts 19. This oscillatory frame 14: is hung in such mannerthat the brush 15 swings inwardly by gravity to a point in proximity tothe inner ends of the wire cutters as each row is advanced to the brushafter having performed its function of cutting the plastic slab, and inorder to move the brush 15 outwardly along the faces of thecutting-wires, so as to produce a wiping effect upon said wires, Iprovide a pair of oscillatory arms 20, which are also located inproximity to the inner is. :68 of the gears 1 at the ends of the bars 3,thelower ends of said arms being pivoted at 21 to suitable brackets 22,projecting from the frame 2, while the upper ends extend upwardly abovethe horizontal plane of the axis of revolution of the gears 1 andnormally rest against one of the fixed bars, as the upper bar 10 of theframe 2, which bar forms a stop or abutment for limiting the inwardswinging movement of the brush in a manner hereinafter described. Theintermediate portions of the bars 20 are provided with inturned camfaces 23, which are rather abrupt and are adapted to be engaged by theends of the advancing arms or bars 3 of the cutting-reel, so that atabout the same time that the wires of one row come in contact with thebrush 15 the bars 3 engage the cam-face 23 and rock the arms 20outwardly upon their pivots 21 to the position shown by dotted lines inFig. 2, the inner faces of the upper portions of the arms 20 beingprovided with curved bearing-faces 24, upon which the bars 3 ride afterhaving moved the arms to the position shown by dotted lines, the objectof this being to hold the brush or scraper 15 to its extreme outerposition out of the path of the clamps 7, so as not to interfere withthe free rotation of the cutting-reel after the cleaner has performedits function upon each row of wire cutters. This outward swinging motionof the arms 20 is transmitted to the brush-frame 1 1 by means of a link25, which is pivotally connected, respectively, to the brush-frame 15and to an extension 26 of the arm 20. The preponderance of the weight ofthe arms 20 is inside of the pivots 21 in both positions, while thesuperior weight of the lower portion of the swinging frame 14 is outsideof its pivot 17 so that the tendency of both the frame 14: and arms 20is to move by gravity toward the axis of the cutting-reel. Thereforeafter each operation of moving the brush along the wires from its innerposition (shown by full lines) to the position shown by dotted lines thebrush is returned automatically to its normal starting position as soonas the arms 3 leave the ends of the curved bearing-faces 24: of the arms20. It will be observed that the bearing-face 2 1 is continued upwardlya suflicient distance to prevent the return of the brush 15 to itsnormal position until after the wireholding devices 7 have moved asuflicient distance beyond the lengthwise bars 18 when in their outwardposition, so that said bars will readily clear the holding devices 7when returning to their normal position.

Inasmuch as I do not lay any claim to any part of the cutting mechanism,but simply to the means for cleaning the cutting-wires, it is thought tobe unnecessary to further illustrate or describe the cutting-machine andits operation, it being sufficient to state that the cutting-reel ismoved step by step in the same direction and that the cutting-wires ofeach row operate successively to sever the bricks from the slab and thatimmediately after each cutting operation of one row and during thecutting operation of the succeeding row the brush 15 is moved outwardlyalong and upon the advance faces of the wires which have just passedthrough the plastic slab and that soon after the cleaning operation ofone row the brush returns automatically to its normal position ready toengage and clean the wires of the next succeeding row, the operationbeing repeated as often as each successive row is presented to thebrush.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a brick-cutting machine, the combination with a cutting-reelhaving radial cutters, of a swinging frame having a brush common to allthe cutters and movable toward and from the axis of the reel along andupon the cutters to clean the same and means actuated by the reel andoperatively connected to rock the brush-frame in one direction.

2. In a brick-cutting machine, the combination with a cutting-reelhaving radial cuttingwires disposed in substantially the same plane, ofa swinging frame having a brush common to and engaged by the cutters andmovable along the same and means for transmitting movement from the reelto the brush-frame.

3. In a brick-cutting machine, the combination with a rotary frame anddriving means therefor, of a plurality of rows of radial cutters securedto the frame, a brush supported in the path of the cutters and meansactuated by the frame to move the brush along the cutters as each row issuccessively presented to the brush.

4. In a brick-cutting machine, a rotary frame having a plurality of rowsof cutters a swinging frame,abrush mounted on the frame in the path ofthe advancing rows of cutters, and means actuated by the rotary frameand IIO operatively connected to actuate the swinging frame in onedirection to move the brush along the cutters during the movement of therotary frame.

5. In a brick-cutting machine, a cuttingreel, in combination with aswinging frame,a

"brush mounted on the frame" and normally disposed in the path of thecutters of the reel, a pivoted arm connected to the swingingframe, andmeans on the reel for engaging said arm and rocking the same upon itspivot during WILLIAM J. EIIP.

Witnessesr H. E. CHAsE, MILDRED M. No'r'r.

